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James Brooks's Blog


Mortgage Rates Move Higher On Today's News 10-23-2014
Updated Oct. 27, 2014
By James Brooks. The bond market is currently down 16/32 (2.27%), which should push today's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 - .250 of a discount point.. Today's two economic reports gave us mixed results but hasn't had much of an impact on today's pricing. The first report came at...
Mortgage Rates Spike After Labor Report 7-5-2013
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Friday's bond market has opened down sharply following the release of some very unfavorable economic news. The stock markets are reacting positively to the same data, pushing the Dow higher by 77 points and the Nasdaq up 20 points. While those are moderate gains in the major stock indexes, the bond market...
Today's Mortgage Rates Edge Higher 11-1-2016
Updated Nov. 3, 2016
By James Brooks. The bond market is down 8/32 (1.85%), which should push today's mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) gave us their manufacturing index for October at 10:00 AM ET this morning. It showed a reading of 51.9 that was a little...
If Closing Your Mortgage This Week
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
This holiday-shortened week brings us the release of six relevant economic reports for the markets to digest along with the last FOMC meeting's minutes and two potentially important Treasury auctions. All of the week's data is being posted over just two days, so the first part of the week should be...
Rates Move On The News
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Tuesday’s bond market has opened in positive territory again after news of the Korean conflict raised fears of further instability in the world markets. The stock markets have reacted negatively with the Dow down 145 points and the Nasdaq down 33 points. The bond market is currently up 19/32, which should...
Rates Will Rise With Todays News 11-24-10
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Wednesday's bond market has opened in negative territory following the release of mixed economic data and a strong open in stocks. The stock markets are reacting favorably to the data, pushing the Dow up 126 points and the Nasdaq up 44 points. The bond market is currently down 22/32, which will likely...
Rates Change On Today's News 9-26-2011
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
By James Brooks First Financial Services Inc.. onday's bond market has opened down slightly with no major surprise in this morning's only economic data and a mixed morning in stocks. The Dow is currently up 42 points while the Nasdaq has lost 24 points. The bond market is currently down 2/32, but due to...
This Week's Report Will Effect Rates 9-25-2011
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
By James Brooks First Financial Services Inc.. This week brings us the release of six relevant economic reports for the bond market to digest in addition to two relevant Treasury auctions. Most of the reports are considered to be of moderate to fairly high importance to the markets, so they do have the potential to...
Rates Rise Again
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Rates rose in the past week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending December 2, 30-year fixed rates averaged 4.46%, up from 4.40% the previous week. The average for 15-year fixed was also rose to 3.81%. Adjustables increased as well with the average for one-year adjustables rising to 3.25% and five-year...
Rates Rally On Today's News 9-6-2011
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
By James Brooks First Financial Services. Tuesday's bond market has opened in positive territory following early stock selling that is a result of renewed concerns about the economy possibly sliding back into a recession. The Dow has lost another 218 points while the Nasdaq is down 43 points. The bond...
Time to Lock Rate For Next Week
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Friday's bond market has opened in positive territory after the stock markets failed to extend yesterday's rally. They are showing relatively minor losses with the Dow down 14 points and the Nasdaq down 2 points. The bond market is currently up 5/32, which with yesterday's late strength should...
Rates Stable for Now
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
There were two reports posted this morning. The first was October's Consumer Price Index (CPI) that showed weaker than expected inflation readings. The Labor Department said that the overall CPI reading rose 0.2% and that the core data was unchanged from September's level. Both of these readings were...
Rates On The Rise Today 11-18-2010
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Thursday's bond market has opened well in negative territory, giving back yesterday's morning gains. The stock markets are a large part of today's early selling, with the Dow up 178 points and the Nasdaq up 43 points. The bond market is currently down 18/32, which will likely push this...
Rates Unchanged After Premarket News
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Producer Price Index, which at last glance was more subdued than expected, is anticipated to rise 0.6% in November, following a 0.4% gain in October - or half what economists were expecting. A 0.6% increase would leave prices up 3.3% compared to 12 months ago. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs,...
The Reason Why Rates Are Rising
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
The November employment report was disappointing. Despite this disappointment, the stock market held firm and rates, oil and gold continued to rise. Why would that be so? Many have pointed to the concern about inflation that was generated in reaction to the Federal Reserve Board's plan to purchase $600...
Rates Move Slightly Higher
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
The first of today's four monthly economic reports was November's Personal Income and Outlays data. It showed that personal income rose 0.3% and that personal spending rose 0.4% last month. The income reading exceeded forecasts, meaning consumers had money to spend last month than was thought. That...
6 Pieces Of Economic Data Due This Week Will Effect Mortgage Rates 6-24-2012
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
By James Brooks First Financial Services. This week brings us the release of six pieces of economic data in addition to a couple of Treasury auctions that have the potential to influence mortgage rates. None of the reports are considered to be highly important or labeled as market-movers, but they do carry enough...
How Low Can Rates Drop?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Tuesday's bond market has opened in positive territory after news of a large drop in home sales. The stock markets are reacting negatively to the news with the Dow down 81 points and the Nasdaq down 22 points. The bond market is currently up 18/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates by...
Rates fall to the lowest level in decades
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Rates fall to the lowest level in decades Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 10 weeks, as concerns grow that the economy is weakening. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 4.36 percent this week, down from 4.42 percent last...
Rates Rose Now Falling Again
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Tuesday's bond market has opened in well in positive territory even though this morning's economic data showed results that weren't so favorable for bonds. The stock markets are relatively calm considering this important data could have led to a sizable rally in stocks. The Dow is currently up...

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